tuffluck

not as much if you have the 255-hp version.

https://5series.net/forums/topic/102...550i-compared/

but yeah for mileage i get 16-17 in the city in my 530i. but i work .7 miles and 4 stop signs from my house, which is most of my driving. the engine doesn't warm up and i never get over 30mph so i wouldn't expect very good mileage under those circumstances for most cars.

KREED_550i

Well, I've had my share of V6 and I4. For now, I'm happy with the V8 and I love the sound and power.

R1100S

The best I've managed so far is 26.9mpg in the 550i. 175 mile trip from Titusville, FL to Sarasota FL. Stayed around the speed limits of 65-70mph. Never went above 80 (Avg. was 71mph).

That was our first trip in the car last month. I was driving conservatively, and trying to see how efficiently I could drive the car.

I'm not used to having a swinging MPG needle below the tach..but...I'm kind of obsessed with it now. I notice how long it takes after I accelerate from a stop to read above 12mpg.

kajin99

I drove to Vegas last weekend (550 miles) and I got the same, just over 29 mpg. I averaged about 75 mph.

rctmthouse

+1

Diamond

Dude the number of cylinders has little effect on the sound--its the design of the exhaust-have you heard any nissans, esp the gtr-its louder than a jet and has turbo V6. or even the 350z is wayy louder. You cant tell the difference between the I6 and V8 with a RPI exhaust on both either--so sound is to be had.. and as other posts state V8 has some benefits and I6 have other--to each his own.

InFBMW

You are kidding right ? I have a feeling you have never owned a V8. The difference is like night a day, V8s are the best!

KREED_550i

I disagree with you on the exhaust sound. One of our other faithful members (Da Meister) has a 530 and we both have the RPI exhaust for our model. We meet up shortly after he had his installed and he even said that at idle, you could really hear the rumble of the V8 more. Both cars sounded great, but you really can hear the difference, especially at WOT.

Another exhaust note I miss is my previous Infiniti FX35. There's no mistaken the sound of an Infiniti coming around the corner.

rctmthouse

My V-8 next to my friend's I-6...I can tell the difference, a deeper rumble effect especially when I step on the gas pedal. Do not have RPI exhaust so can't comment. Did own a Z and a Boxter S in the past so have to agree with you that design of exhaust does a make a difference in sound but I thought this post was about BMW.

tuffluck

i don't think people generally buy bmw sedan's for the noise that the exhaust makes. some people here do, and that's cool, but i don't think that's why most people buy a bmw sedan. i drove a sport's car with a very loud v8 before this bmw. the rumble of the v8 was fitting on that car because it was a sport's car. the noise level on the bmw wasn't really what i was going for; had i been going for the rumble i would have bought another sport's car. so i don't really think the noise that a v8 makes is the selling point to most of the bmw demographic. and coming from a sport's car previously, i don't even notice the sound of a 550i at idle, or a 530i for that matter...

the power is a different story. it's a legitimate reason to purchase the 550 over the other models. depending on where you live, that power isn't always easy to utilize. one reason i got rid of my sport's car was because i could never go as fast as it could, and the few places i could go fast in this large city, the squealing of the tires and roar of the v8 could easily attract local police attention. the truth is, some people with their 550i probably don't, and most likely don't, put the pedal to the metal every time the car is on. to a lot of people it's the peace of mind knowing they're bmw sedan is faster than most of the other luxury sedans they come in contact with. is that worth the extra 7-10k in price and lessened gas mileage? that's obviously different for everyone.

for me, i already went down that road of wanting to be faster than all the other sport's cars when i came in contact with them. so my bmw purchase was more about practicality, without compromising a quick-enough throttle. i think most of the time that's what bmw owners are going for when they buy a 5-series unless they are purchasing an M5 (which to most of us is completely out of our budgets). if you wanted speed in a bmw, you could easily get a 335i for cheaper than a 550i and probably run circles around it and many of the other cars on the road.